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Herbal and Alternative Remedies for Oral
Thrush
Oral thrush is a common problem which occurs most often in babies and small
children. It can develop in adults, too, because it is simply another form of a
yeast infection.
Yeast infections are caused by a bacteria that lives in our bodies known as
candida albicans. Millions of this bacteria are present in our systems at all
times and they proliferate in the mouth. Thankfully, our bodies have built in
methods of keeping this bacteria from causing ongoing problems. We have
"good" or "friendly" bacteria that also lives within us, and this bacteria
does many things for us, including helping with digestion and helping to
suppress problem causing bacteria.
Small children get sick, though, and one of the most common things they get
sick with is an ear infection. For many years now, the standard treatment
for ear infections has been the use of broad spectrum antibiotics. This
causes a problem, because the antibiotics kill all the good and bad bacteria
in our bodies. Without the good bacteria in place, the yeast causing
bacteria are able to quickly grow and thrive once the antibiotic is done,
because they've developed a resistance to these medications.
So, it's quite common to see a baby or small child develop an oral yeast
infection or thrush after having taken an antibiotic for some other health
problem. Yeast infections are also contagious, so some children have
chronic recurring problems with oral thrush because they're constantly putting
things in their mouth that have not been sterilized since the last thrush
outbreak. Or, they find something that was put into the mouth of another child
who had thrush, thus they pick it up themselves.
Curing an oral thrush infection is fairly easy to do in a healthy person.
Whether child or adult, as long as the body's immune system is not compromised
or weakened by something such as a disease or other prescription medications,
simple herbs and home remedies can usually take care of oral thrush out breaks
easily.
The first thing to try is yogurt. Plain old fashioned, unsweetened and
un-pasteurized yogurt which has live acidophilus in it will almost always do
the trick. If you're treating a thrush infection in a child who is old enough
to eat the yogurt, feed it to them. If the thrush is around the outside of
their mouth, you can also smear the yogurt around the infected area. For small
babies, you'll want to gently and lightly smear the infected areas with yogurt,
trying to get some coated around inside their mouths without putting so much
in that they choke.
The second way to cure an oral thrush yeast infection is to use plain old
garlic. Garlic is the number one herbal choice for treating any kind of fungus
problem. Simply slice a clove of raw garlic in half, then rub the juicy side
around the affected areas of the mouth. If the thrush is inside an adult or
child old enough not to choke, remove the skin from the garlic and slice a
small piece of it off. Then have the affected person swab the piece of garlic
around inside their mouth for a few minutes.
If treating a baby or smaller child, garlic oil gel capsules can be used
instead. Simply pierce the end of the capsule with a pin, then rub the oil
around inside and outside the mouth. Note: Garlic can sting a little if there
are open sores or abrasions.
Use either of these methods twice a day and the thrush infection will often be
cleared up within one to three days. Be sure to sterilize toys, bottle
nipples or anything else children or babies may have had in their mouths when
the thrush was active.
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